Document processing machines



28, 1965 s. H. A. THOMPSON ETAL 3,226,109

DOCUMENT PROCESSING MACHINES Filed Oct. 8, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGJ.

I/WEM rel-LS STAMhE 7 HowfiRD hDCOCK TRoMPSoM GEORGE :mMEs Samuel. moverB Mm* QM 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1965 s. H. A. THOMPSON ETAL DOCUMENTPROCESSING MACHINES Filed 001". 8, 1962 Dec. 28, 1965 Filed Oct. 8, 1962s. H. A. THOMPSON ETAL 3,226,109

DOCUMENT PROCESSING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 lI'WE Tr-RS STANLEYHal/JAM) AQCOCK THoMPSoN GEORGE JAMES AMUEL mou-LT 8% I mo a UnitedStates Patent Ofiice 3,226,169 Patented Dec. 28, 1965 3,226,109 DGCUMENTPROCESSING MACHINES Stanley Howard Adcock Thompson, Stoke Bishop,Bristol, and George James Samuel Mouit, Staple Hill, Bristol, England,assignors to Parnall 8: Sons Limited, Birmingham, England, a Britishcompany Filed Oct. 8, 1962, Ser. No. 228,942 Claims priority,application Great Britain, Oct. 17, 1961, 37,102/ 61 14 Claims. (Cl.271-34) This invention relates to document processing machines, forexample for coding, reading and/or sorting documents for statistical,accounting, or processing control purposes, and has for its primaryobject improved means for feeding the documents into the machine withoutneed for interruption in the flow of documents through the machine.

The invention consists of a document processing machine comprising meansfor abstracting documents edgewise one at a time in sequence from astack of documents, at least one magazine adapted to hold a stackedbatch of documents, and conveyor means for transporting the magazinepast said abstracting means so that the forward face of the leadingdocument in the magazine is presented to the abstracting means so thatthe document is fed edgewise from the magazine, a pair of opposite sidesof the magazine being shaped so that they are able to move past saidabstracting means as it is emptied of documents without interruption inthe operation of the machine. Preferably said conveyor means comprisesat least one continuously driven endless belt wherein the frictionbetween the belt and the base of the magazine determines a substantiallyconstant applied pressure between the leading document and theabstracting means. Alternatively the magazine may be fed by gravity downan inclined track towards the abstracting means. Preferably theabstracting means comprises one or more ported belts co-acting with avacuum supply so that the belt or belts have running contact with theleading document in the magazine and act to abstract the leadingdocument from the magazine as the leading document is sucked against aport or ports having vacuum applied thereto.

One example of the practical application of the invention is illustratedin the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a part sectional side elevation of the document feedingsection of a document processing machine according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan on the line A-A of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation on the line BB of FIG- URE l; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of one of the magazines shown in FIGURE1.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the machine comprises apair of conveyor belts 5 mounted in parallel side-by-side relationshipwith their upper horizontal runs extending beneath and adjacent to anabstracting device 6 and continuously driven at a constant speed. Theabstracting device comprises a pair of endless feed belts 7 mountedside-by-side each having a triangulated path including a verticallyupward run normal to the upper run of the conveyor belts 5. Inaccordance with known techniques the feed belts are ported (8) atintervals longer than the length of the documents to be processed and intheir said vertical runs are traversed over a shoe 9 connected to avacuum pump (not shown) so that when a document bears against the feedbelts 7 as a port or ports in the belts are presented between the shoe 9and the document the document is sucked onto the belts 7 and is therebytransported on the belts 7 to further transporting means whereby thedocument is conveyed through the remainder of the machine.

Preferably the abstracting device 6 also incorporates in proximity tothe vertical run of the feeding belts 7, 10, means such as a counterrotating vacuum capstan known per se, for arresting or rejecting secondand further documents that may be fed in company with the first documentthereby to ensure a single document feed.

The documents are delivered along the conveyor belts 5 to theabstracting device 6 in magazines 11 which each hold a batch ofdocuments 12 stacked with the planes of the documents normal to the runof the conveyor belts and parallel to that containing the vertical runsof the feed belts 7 so that the documents are each presented edgewisetowards their direction of feed when gripped by the feed belts.Preferably the magazines 11 are of open-topped box-like formation butessentially their leading and trailing vertical sides 13 are cut-away topermit the magazines to move on the conveyor past the abstracting device6 as they are emptied of documents whilst still lending sufficientsupport to the documents to maintain these in substantially verticalplanes. Conveniently guide rails 14 may be incorporated in the machineson each side of the conveyor belts 5 so as to align accurately themagazines as they are transported past the abstracting device 6.

In order to preserve the vertical disposition of the leading document ineach magazine as it is presented to the feed belts 7 the abstractingdevice 6 incorporates a dependent finger 15 disposed between andco-planar with the front faces of the pair of feed belts 7 in theirvertical runs. Advantageously the finger 15 may be joggled adjacent itslower extremity to relieve slightly the pressure of the finger on theupper region of the leading document relative to that on the lowerregion.

It is found in practice that the reliability in operation of feedingdevices of the kind described is dependent on a substantially constantpressure between the leading document of the stack and the feed belts 7.This can be achieved in the present apparatus by driving the conveyorbelts 5 at a speed slightly in excess of the rate of emptying of themagazines and designing the friction between the conveyor belts 5 andthe bases of magazines 11 to furnish the required pressure which will belimited by the slip between the magazines and the belts when the trainof magazines 11 are arrested at the feeding device.

In order to improve the constancy of pressure between the leadingdocument of the stack and the feeding belts, a pressure sensitive devicemay be fitted to the central finger 15. In its simplest form thisconsists of an onoff micro-switch 16 which is fixed behind a pivotallymounted finger 15 so that when the pressure of the documents on thefinger and feed belts 7 exceeds a value predetermined by a spring 17between the finger and the body of the switch 16, the finger movesrearwardly to actuate the switch 16 and break the electrical circuit tothe drive motor of the conveyor. A second switch (not shown) could beincorporated so that if still more pressure is applied by the documents,the conveyor belt drive is reversed until the correct pressure isachieved. This would eliminate problems that might arise due to theinput operator putting excessive pressure on the magazines when loadingthe machine. More complex methods could also be applied, for example, byusing a variable speed and reversible motor on the conveyor drive andcontrolling this by a full servo-mechanism.

In order to adapt a standard size of magazine to hold stacks ofdocuments of different lengths removable floors may be inserted in themagazines as shown in chain dotted lines at 18 in FIGURE 3. Convenientlyall sizes of floor have a central well 19 to accept the passagetherethrough of the finger 15 without need to change the size of thelatter.

By appropriately extending the length of the conveyor belts 5 before theabstracting device 6 any number of magazines 11 may be accommodated onthe conveyor and transported past the abstracting device with thetrailing side of one magazine in contact with the leading side of thenext following magazine so that there need be no interruption in thedelivery of documents through the machine as the feed moves from onemagazine to the next. The use of magazines also has the advantage thatthe documents may be stored therein before and after processing.

We claim:

1. A document processing machine comprising conveyor belt means having agenerally horizontal run, an open-sided magazine on and carried by saidconveyor run and adapted to hold a series of vertically disposed andhorizontally stacked documents, said magazine having aligned front andrear wall apertures extending from said open side, and documentabstracting means disposed in the path of movement of said magazineapertures so that as the magazine is moved in one direction by theconveyor means the leading stacked document is engaged by theabstracting means and is thereby fed out of the magazme.

2. A document processing machine according to claim 1 wherein saidmagazine is open at its top side and said apertures are cut-outs in itsfront and rear walls.

3. A document processing machine according to claim 1, comprising afinger positioned in the path of movement of said magazine to engage andsupport the leading document of a stack whilst the leading documentengages the abstracting means.

4. A document processing machine according to claim 1, wherein saidabstracting means comprises endless feed belt means having a run capableof engaging the leading document in the magazine.

5. A document processing machine according to claim 4, wherein said feedbelt means is ported for co-acting with a vacuum shoe to periodicallysuck the leading document onto the belt means whereby the document isabstracted from the stack on the belt means.

6. A document processing machine according to claim 4 wherein a movablepressure finger is disposed to engage and support the leading documentin said magazine and two feed belts are disposed one on each side of thefinger having runs engageable with the leading document in said magazineand with the finger extending substantially in the plane of the runs ofthe feed belts engaged by the leading document.

7. A document processing machine according to claim 1, wherein themagazine is frictionally associated with the conveyor means and themovement of the conveyor means is the source of pressure of the leadingdocuments on the abstracting means.

8. A document processing machine according to claim 3, comprisingcontrol means actuated by movement of the finger to govern the speed ofthe conveyor means and so control the pressure of the leading documenton the abstracting means.

9. A document processing machine according to claim 8, comprising anelectric control switch actuated by said finger in response to documentpressure.

it A document processing machine according to claim 1, wherein saidconveyor means comprises a continuously movable endless conveyor belthaving a substantially horizontal run for carrying the magazine.

11. A document processing machine according to claim 10, wherein thehorizontal run of said conveyor means has a length capable of supportngat one time a series of magazines before the abstracting means.

12. A document processing machine according to claim 11, comprisingfixed guide rails on opposite side of the magazine on the conveyor beltrun for aligning the magazines in relation to the abstracting means.

13. A document processing machine comprising conveyor belt means havinga generally horizontal run, an open-topped magazine disposed on andcarried by said conveyor run and adapted to hold a series of verticallydisposed horizontally stacked documents, said magazine having alignedfront and rear wall apertures, and document abstracting means comprisingfeed belt means having a generally vertical run extending down to alevel below the tops of said apertures in the path of movement of theconveyed magazine so that as the magazine is moved in one direction bythe conveyor means the upper portion of the leading stacked documenttherein is engaged by said feed belt run and fed out of the magazine bysaid feed belt means.

14. In the document processing means defined in claim 13, a pressurefinger movably mounted to extend into the path of said leading documentin the magazine, and means actuated by said finger for controllingoperation of said conveyor belt means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,112,816 10/1914Manchester. 2,138,306 11/1938 Patrick. 2,324,930 7/1943 Joa 27162 X2,936,087 5/ 1960 Glazer 2l43 10 3,045,846 7/1962 Clark 2143l0 M. HENSONWOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

ROBERT A. LEIGHEY, ROBERT E. REEVES,

Examiners.

1. A DOCUMENT PROCESSING MACHINE COMPRISING CONVEYOR BELT MEANS HAVING AGENERALLY HORIZONTAL RUN, AN OPEN-SIDED MAGAZINE ON AND CARRIED BY SAIDCONVEYOR RUN AND ADAPTD TO HOLD A SERIES OF VERTICALLY DISPOSED ANDHORIZONTALLY STACKED DOCUMENTS, SAID MAGAZINE HAVING ALIGNED FRONT ANDREAR WALL APERTURES EXTENDING FROM SAID OPEN SIDE, AND DOCUMENTABSTRACTING MEANS DISPOSED IN THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF SAID MAGAZINEAPERTURES SO THAT AS THE MAGAZINE IS MOVED IN ONE DIRECTION BY THE CON-